Wild Day at Wrigley!

by Michael T. Powers

"I don't need anyone telling me when to cross the street," I yelled defiantly at the fourth grade Safety Patrol member. "I ain't no little kid, you know!" I said in my roughest, toughest ten-year-old voice. With that, I crossed the street and made my way home.

The next morning I was called to the principal's office. I was a bit scared, but I tried my best not to show it. "You know Mike, this is the third time I have had a complaint about you not obeying the Safety Patrols at the intersections."

I said nothing in response.

"The Safety Patrol members are there to make sure that no one gets hurt."

"I don't need anyone telling me when to cross the street. I'm not a two-year-old, you know."

"Mr. Powers, I don't care how old you are, or even think you are. You are going to start listening to and obeying the Safety Patrol, or you and I will be spending a lot of time together. Is that understood?"

I nodded and then was dismissed. I clenched my little fists together all the way out the door.

I was Public Enemy Number one to the Greenbrook Elementary School Safety Patrol. The brave young boys and girls who were sworn to help other students safely cross the street were told to be on the look out for me. The mere mention of my name made those fourth graders, who proudly wore the orange Safety Patrol vests, break out into a cold sweat.

It was soon after that, that I was approached by fellow fourth grader and captain of the Safety Patrol, Mike DiSalvo. I started to growl under my breath as he approached, and I prepared myself for an argument when he began to speak. "Hey, Mike! I've got a question for you. I noticed that you don't seem to need any help getting across the streets before and after school."

"That's right!" I barked back at him. "I'm not a two-year-old, you know?!"

"Well, Mike, since you are one of the few who don't need our help, I was wondering if you would like to join us? You know, become a member of the Safety Patrol. That way you can help all the other students get safely across the street."

The defensive reply I had planned froze on my lips and I stood there totally stunned. After what seemed like an hour I finally stammered, "Sure, I guess."

How could I turn down the Safety Patrol in their hour of need?

Within a few weeks I was the most devoted Safety Patrol member Greenbrook Elementary School ever had, and I wore my orange vest with pride. I showed up on my scheduled street corner ten minutes early each morning, and I didn't have a single problem with any of the students that I helped to cross the road each day. Well, except for the little second grader who told me one day, "I don't need anyone telling me when to cross the street. I'm not a two-year-old, you know." A quick talk with my mother and father later that night, though, took care of the problem, and my little brother never said that to me again.

I grew to love being in the Safety Patrol even more when, at the end of the year, we were rewarded for our service with a trip to Wrigley Field to watch my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs. Most any boy who grew up in the Chicago area spent half their childhood playing baseball in the neighborhood lot, pretending they were Cub players Bill Buckner or Dave Kingman. The other half of their life was spent in front of the tube watching the Cubs play on WGN-TV. However, to actually get to go to a Cubs game in person was a dream come true!

The date was May 17, 1979, and the Cubs were taking on the Philadelphia Phillies. Our group of elementary school students got our first glimpse of heaven, as we looked out over historic Wrigley Field from the bleachers in right-center field. There are no words to describe the feeling that this fourth grader had at that time. The wind was blowing out that day and we settled in for an experience we would all remember for the rest of our lives...

The Phillies scored seven runs in the first inning and sent starting Cub pitcher, Dennis Lamp, to the showers before he even worked up a sweat. However, my beloved Cubs came right back with six runs of their own, and at the end of the first inning the score was 7-6. We knew then this was not going to be a normal Major League baseball game.

The Phillies went on to score eight runs in the third inning and built a 17-6 lead, and things weren't looking too bright for my Cubbies. However, my favorite player, Dave Kingman, was belting homers every other at-bat, and my second favorite player, Bill Buckner, hit a grand slam right into our group of Safety Patrol members. At the end of nine innings the game was miraculously tied, 22-22.

In the top of the tenth, Mike Schmidt hit his second homer of the game off Cub reliever Bruce Sutter to put the Phillies ahead 23-22. I wasn't worried though, as Kingman, who already had three home runs, was coming to bat for us in the bottom of the tenth. I remember standing up with the rest of the Cub faithful, pointing towards the left field bleachers, and shouting at the top of my little lungs, "NUMBER 4! NUMBER 4!" in the hopes that he would tie the game again with one swing. Rawley Eastwick, the fifth Phillies pitcher of the day, sent his best fastball hurtling towards home plate. Kingman took a mighty swing, and, with the crack of the bat, we all knew the game was going to be tied. His towering shot went high into the air and began its long decent towards the bleachers in left field... However, the ball fell just short, as did the Cubs' hopes of winning that day.

The game featured eleven home runs, fifty hits, and set many Major League records. More importantly, though, it was a magical day that all of us kids will never, ever forget...especially me. If it weren't for a fourth grader named Mike DiSalvo who was wise far beyond his years, I would not have been there that day to experience my first Cubs game.

I have lost track of my childhood friends since we moved to Wisconsin back in 1980. However, my guess is that Mike DiSalvo is the CEO of some Fortune 500 company, and that he regularly gives out Cub tickets to schools to be used by the brave young boys and girls of the Safety Patrol.

Michael T. Powers

© 2001 by Michael T. Powers